Kids Can Cook Kitchen sows the seeds in tens of thousands

As the end of Term 2 approaches I take
off my chefs hat to all teachers as I now know how much work
is involved in teaching the next generation. The
ability to sow the seeds in a younger generation is more
tasty and fulfilling than my past cooking roles. The
Kids Can Cook Kitchen has visited over 25 thousand
children in schools nationwide in the last 6 months I can
see there is certainly a growing inability for some parents
to provide the basics in life and I am not just talking
about breakfast. I have visited many different decile
schools in many different regions and what some of our
children need most is respect, mana, self-esteem and
self-belief. They need to be able to believe that they
can make a difference, that they can rise above basic social
and economic problems as generations before us have done.
This is the role of parents but unfortunately it has now
also been passed onto schools as with many other basic
needs

Some of the highlights of Term 1 and 2 for
the Kids Can Cook Kitchen include

Epuni School - 100 Students - Lower Hutt - The
best School Garden in New Zealand

Te Wainui a Rua School - 20 Students - Whanganui -
Most remote school with Mana

Mohaka School - 33 Students
- Hawkes Bay - Respect, Respect, Respect

Manurewa Intermediate and Manurewa High School - 700
Students - Auckland - The most encouraging schools with
great facilities

Awhitu School -
123 Students - Franklin - Great area school that walks the
talk

Canvas Town School - 38 Students - Marlborough -
Most fun and came up with the name for the Kitchen

Linwood North School - Aranui School - New
Brighton Catholic School - Chisnallwood Intermediate-
Beckenham School - Casebrook Intermediate and Christchurch
South Intermediate - 1000's of students - for having mana,
self esteem and self belief after the earthquakes affected
all

I look at Epuni School in Lower Hut and I see their
school garden, I see the difference in the children’s eyes
as they are all involved in something special; the sowing of
future seeds. I see the difference in the fact that they
are been given the tools in life to be able to look after
themselves in the future. I see the respect and mana in
their eyes. Well done to all involved in our education
sector, the health and nutrition sectors and the mums and
dads who do sent their children off to school each day with
the correct tools to be able to grow and prosper in today's
modern busy modern world.

I believe if you give a
child a breakfast then you feed them for a day. Teach a
child how to grow and cook and you feed them for a lifetime

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